My Beautiful Rescue
by SteneMichele
Summary: Jasper is in history class, learning about the Civil War that he experienced first-hand, when he is tempted to give into his thirst.


History class. My own personal Hell. It was the smallest classroom in the school, filled with the mouthwatering perfume of human blood. I was alone here, surrounded by lives that could be taken in less than 30 seconds. My brothers and sisters were all on the first floor, besides Edward who had left to spend some time with the Denali coven up in Alaska. I wasn't sure why he had left, but from what Esme and Carlisle had discussed that night, I sensed that it revolved around some girl. It was so Edward to act so dramatically in response to a human. Anyway, I was by myself here.

Not to mention my disgust for the actual class itself. U.S. History. As if I needed to learn this. I created a good portion of it! And today's subject… that made it all worse.

"In April and May 1865, losses from battle, disease, capture, and desertion had devastated the Confederate army. Only 174,223 soldiers surrendered to Union forces," Ms. Waller droned, before turning to me abruptly, "Mr. Hale, the age where the United States was being rebuilt- this was known as the…"

"Reconstruction Era," I responded quickly, glaring at the woman in a way that probably sent shivers down her spine. Was it wrong to enjoy that thought? Sometimes I was so sadistic. These humans were lucky that a spine-tingling burst of terror was all that they received from me.

If only Carlisle wasn't so strict over our repetitive education. It was raining today, so there was no need for us to stay home. But there was no need for us to be in school, either. I knew this. I had lived this.

But contemplating my frustration with Carlisle, along with my contempt for History class, distracted me from the allure of the warm, pulsing blood in the room. If only I could just lean over and take a deep whiff of Katie Marshall's hair. It was so fresh, clean and crisp like the seashore. She smelled purely succulent. Almost as good as the girl across the room. I closed my eyes, remembering what Ms. Waller had called her. Angela, I remembered one tenth of a second later. She was always serene, always soothing and nurturing. And so warm, too. I could start with her, next to the door, and work my way towards the window. I could sense that she was slightly self-conscious, but she was more concerned for the well-being of others. Yes, she didn't deserve to die painfully. I would spare her the psychological terror that the poor students by the window would experience.

The window… They would try to jump out, I reminded myself, laughing at the thought. As if they could outrun me. I thought of Emmett and Rosalie in the classroom directly below me. If somebody jumped out of the window and blood was shed, then they would not be able to restrain themselves. So maybe I could lure Angela to the window and start there, finishing with the ones by the door. Even if one of them did escape, I could track them down in seconds. There would be a big mess to clean up… but I wouldn't be around to help. I wasn't shallow enough to forget my family. Alice would be horror-struck, but she would stick with me. And Rosalie would only be angry that they would have to move. Edward would empathize; he always had. In fact, I was quite lucky that he wasn't here. He would have been reading my mind from across the hall. Alice had him keeping tabs on me lately, ever since she had realized how much suffering I endured. I wondered what Edward would have done if he had seen my thoughts today. He was sagacious enough to do something sensible, like forge a pass to the main office and come to call me out of class. Normally I didn't let it get that far, but we all had bad days. Unfortunately, mine would result in the death of a couple dozen innocent children.

It was that simple. I would ruin everything that Carlisle had created for us. The Volturi would catch up with me. The damn Yankees I could fight off, but not ancient vampires accompanied by a guard. It was worth it. I was never as rational as Carlisle, as level-headed as Esme. I was a monster.

This was it. One lunge across the room and I would wrench the Weber girl's brown hair back and lean in and… Alice. 

What a beautiful name. She was my girl. She always had been, and she always would be, no matter what I did next. But that wasn't an option anymore. If my loyalty to Carlisle wasn't enough to keep the Weber girl alive, my love for Alice most certainly was. I closed my eyes at how close I had come, silently vowing to walk Alice to her next period class.

And then the bell rang.


End file.
